Search This Blog

What I Want From My CSMX Candidate

For anyone that has missed it, I am Sugar Kyle and I am running for CSMX, the tenth Council of Stellar Management in Eve Online. But this post isn't about that. This post is about my efforts to pick who I will vote for on February 25th, 2015.

My number one choice will be myself. However, once the candidate list is released on the 23rd, I feel that it is a bit of a responsibility to write up a ballot this year. I won't cover everyone. I'll cover the top of my ballot and a few people that I find interesting and may or may not add to my own but I would recommend to people with other interests.

I've said before that I worry that I will not be elected. I've received amazingly kind reviews from people ever since I announced my decision to run. However, I'm a creature of planning. That means I have to look at a future where I will not be on CSMX. That makes my voting a serious thing for me.

I ran for CSM9 because I love low sec. I wanted it to be represented. I did not want another year without someone on the council without a representative for low sec. Once on the CSM I found that there were things I could put time and energy behind, outside of my initial focus. It is not something that you know until you have it in front of you. But once there, it seems silly not to work on it as well just because it was not on an initial campaign platform. For some that makes sense and for others they ask me if that is my responsibility. I will say it is.

I started halfway through CSM7's term. I knew little about things and it was not until CSM8 was elected that I started paying attention. Hans was on the CSM at the time as a FW representative for low sec. This is a good thing but in the Retribution patch notes a single sentence changed my fate and the way that I looked at the CSM. The static DED complexes were removed from the game and with them came the death to a section of the community that I lived in. That is a longer story and one rehashed many times over. It set the seed of representing the player and hearing the quiet voices of smaller groups. When there was no low sec focused rep for CSM8 things had to change and sometimes that means you take that responsibility upon yourself such as I did for CSM9.

When I look at what I want in a CSM representative I want someone who will listen to me. It may be ideal to have someone who knows my lifestyle but there is easily a chance that they will not. That can be substituted for someone who will listen and consider other parts of the game. I want a representative that would listen to me even if they did not know me and care for my concern as if it was their own. That is the representative that I try to be and that is the type of person that I will add to my ballot.

There are others who make fine CSM members for their goals and focuses. I will not give them my vote because I have one chance to pick a person who I can give that hope and concern to and know it will be cared for. My second pick would be for someone who at least would care for the play styles that keep me coming back to this game over and over again even if they are not the person who would care for my personal concerns.

People who dismiss others or their concerns, especially when they have no personal knowledge of those things, will not be on my list. Nor will those who say that they listen but never show any follow through. I don't need a loud, flashy CSM member. I need someone who is willing to care about someone they do not know. Voting is highly personal to me. It is trust. It is hope. I give none of those things lightly. Even in a game.

My list will not be political. It will be personal. I have people that I like who I would not vote for because while they will be outstanding members of the CSM it will be on their terms and for their reasons. My reasons, my hopes, my joys, my wishes whispered in the dark... none of those things concern them. And while confidence is important and a personality that can handle conflict and being told that they are wrong, I still need them to care about me because that is why they ran. Being bold and vivacious is fine but force of will and nature does not also have to mean pushy and not considerate of others.

The personal strength of an individual is important. CCP will not always agree. They will not always heed what is said. They will have a different task list and a different agenda. Personal energy, pro-activity, the ability to hold one’s temper while being adaptable.. those things matter and I want them in who I select. The hardest part is separating if I like the person from if I feel they are the right CSM candidate for me.

In a way I indulge myself during my own term. The things that I do? They are the things that I want. I try to make myself the CSM that I want to vote for. But, I have to make sure that there is a CSM to take care of me should I not be elected again. And then there are the complex things like roll over votes and such.

It is odd to hear the clock ticking on the end of the term. I still have so much going on. And there are lists, and lists of things still to do. Add in candidate watching and it is amazing how Eve stuff can eat up the time. I'm guessing that the massive influx of candidates came from the removal of the public name requirement. But I don't know and I'm not going to worry toO much on it. As with many, I have my eyes on a handful of people who satisfy my requirements.

Comments

1) I’ve heard many other members of CSM9 enthusiastically exclaim that you are by far the hardest working member of the group. While this is undoubtedly true, it’s started to get on my nerves because it erases another important thing I’ve observed about you. You’re damn smart.

2) “I want a representative that would listen to me even if they did not know me and care for my concern as if it was their own.” I know from experience that you do truly listen but this sentence, as it stands, worryingly sounds as if you caringly pass all concerns/ideas up the ladder, even when they are insanely stupid. You’re bombarded with ‘stuff’ all the time. Care to elaborate a little on how you judge what has merit?

I like to dream, Dire. This is my ideal candidate in my ideal world. But I will answer your question and step out of what I actually want in life.

:(

I have a bank of knowledge that I've accumulated since the session started on how things work, what is going on, what the future road map is or where it is going. I may not be able to share it but I can use that to sort information. Just because someone comes to me does not mean I can do anything about what they want and I am honest about things.

I talk to people about their ideas a lot of the time. Many times we hear the same thing repeated from one person to another. Have I already researched that? Answered that? Had a discussion? Addressed not addressed.

I don't blindly agree with everyone but I do go out and learn about the things people say. I have my own resources that I touch on. And then I distill them down. I have great conversations about the future of PvE for instance but I can also say 'This is where they are this is what they are working on we are here or there or going this way or just waiting' while other things I can work on, see the exploration stuff.

It is one reason I spend so much time talking to people. I need to know what they are saying and why they are saying it. I learn the mood of groups. I won't say the game because some people will love a change and some hate it.

But I also do have stacks of things. They tend to be little not big. Big things are easier to break down. Little things I hold and look for a home for with a developer or with a team. It is part of being proactive. Gathering, holding, finding, giving. I keep lists of everything so that I can find them for reference. I may not be able to get anywhere but I do try. I never in a way know what may or may not be picked up or worth it for someone.

It is a lot of information to process and I just try to process it. If I put my time and energy into it a lot of good comes out of it.

But what is and what is not stupid? Some people want hats. Some people think that is stupid. There are a lot of things to have opinions on. More than I expected there to be. It is one reason its easy to put a ton of time into the CSM side of my game play. I like to be prepared.

My apologies for wrenching you out of dream. Had I remained a little more conscientious of the construction of your post I could have asked a similar question in a 3rd person ‘What counts as listening?’ and very probably received similar elaboration. Setting aside squirrelly ways of seeking what I’m after, what extraordinary elaboration.

Yup. I'm going to put it up on the 24th hopefully and then will have a link when voting opens on the 25th. Like most, I'm waiting to make sure everyone I would put down passes their checks. I think that they will.

I'll vote for you as long as you continue to run for the CSM. I'm not sure whether it was the DCMDVA meetups or the casual friendship that has come out of that but you've always made yourself available to discuss Eve and every time we've chatted I've always left with more questions. Your ability to have productive conversations about a game with Eve's reputation is commendable and I value your input in part because I can trust that you'll do what you believe is best for the whole.

"People who dismiss others or their concerns, especially when they have no personal knowledge of those things, will not be on my list."

This is where Mike, during his first CSM term, forever lost my vote for subsequent elections. Some of us went to Mike with an issue, expecting that as the "casual players' advocate," he would hear our complaint. Instead, he treated the issue with outright derision.

"Nor will those who say that they listen but never show any follow through."

And this is where Ali Aras lost my respect in the same term. She promised to follow up with CCP on an issue, and then never did so, refusing to even respond to any communication requesting an update.

Sugar, I've been through many CSMs over the years - I even remember the first CSM. I can honestly say that in my experience, you have been the best representative we have ever had. I think that it is clear that this is largely because you have worked so hard to be the very representative that you would want to have representing yourself (I think that a lot of nations would be better off if their elected officials took the same approach). Thank you so much for all the great work you have put into the CSM this past year, and thank you even more for being willing to do it again. For what it's worth, you have my vote!

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to my non-technical and outdated but probably still useful guide to boosters. There have been changes to how things are built in Eve. This was the old POS code before the introduction of new structures in 2016. This is just a walk through on my wobbling
path of booster production. It took me
half a dozen different documents to figure out what I needed to do to make
these mythical things. It is what I do. It may not be perfect but it works.

This is pirate focused industry. This guide brought to you by Lain asking me to write it after I tried to explain it in chat.

Why make boosters?
Because drugs are good.
Really they are performance enhancers and performance enhancers can give
someone that extra edge in PvP. It was also because my boys used them and when they
ran low they often ran out, I could be their supplier. They would no longer hoard their drugs due to the length of time it takes to get fresh product.. The thought
of being a drug kingpin was also very appealing. …

It is amazing how much effort can go into crafting thirteen hundred characters. When I first looked at my CSM application I thought that it would be easy to write the official words. Of course it was not. The limit was the largest hurdle. I had so much to say and so few words to say it in. But, I eventually worked through it and submitted everything last Sunday evening. I sent off my passport at the same time and now it is just a short, but long wait.

Tomorrow is the final day of application submissions. Then, on the 3rd, we should find out who actually submitted their applications and passports and passed their background checks. The polls open the following Tuesday. I’ve checked my submission a few times. If I try to fill out the form with Sugar again it tells me that she has already submitted one. I sent my e-mail to the correct place. How I wish for a confirmation email to stare at. For now, i just fret. When I started the run I was worried about …

I find that it is still easy to write about Eve. However, I've not been playing Eve. I spent most of the last few weeks finishing up my crochet project. It was a birthday present for my best friend. Since someone expressed interest in it, here it is.

It is displayed on a king size bed. I made it as a birthday present for my best friend. We've had twenty years of friendship. I met her online when I was a teenager. Our birthdays are two weeks apart so I celebrated mine by making her something. I'm not one to celebrate birthdays but now and then I try to pull myself to a social norm and do something special for the people I love.

I spent a long time fighting to be myself. I finally discovered a balance in this last handful of years. It is still a struggle but for some reason, in my late thirties, understanding is moving briskly along. With that understanding comes comfort. I don't have to fight about and for things like I used to. I don't have to make anyone accept me…